Online tools to make your school website improve the teaching experience

Some websites are very basic and do nothing more than provide information. They may be slick and attractive, but essentially they do nothing more than present information to the user.

However, when you get a website designed for your school, you will realise that they can do so much more. A good website designer will incorporate tools that help teachers and students in many ways.

Make use of a VLE

A school website that incorporates a virtual learning environment (VLE), such as those designed by school web development agencies like CSI Media, can become a useful tool for teachers, students and parents.

A VLE is a central system incorporated into your website where information can be added, seen and shared among the community. They help to improve the classroom experience, and they take the website beyond a simple brochure site and convert it into a tool with multiple benefits for the entire school community.

Key uses for teachers

There are many ways in which teachers can make use of a VLE to make life easier and improve the teaching experience:

for example, teachers can use the VLE as a single place to post lesson plans and share them with colleagues in a simple and efficient manner;

alternatively, they can use the VLE as a place to post resources, reference materials and class notes that can then be accessed by the students both in the classroom and at home;

teachers can use the VLE to post reports relating to the students, which could involve details regarding their grades. This can then be accessed by students and parents more efficiently;

another feature could be the ability to take registration in the classroom and upload the details to the system. That way staff and parents can track attendance and become aware of any problems relating to truancy.

Benefits for parents and students

As well as the direct benefits for teachers, students and parents also stand to benefit from the incorporation of such a system in the school website:

for example, they may both be able to access school reports on the system to keep track of them more efficiency and track their progress over time;

students may also be able to access tests and exams via the website, or they may be able to submit their homework through it, and then teachers can provide notes and feedback to them directly via the system;

students may want to access the system to find information about clubs and other extracurricular activities they are involved in so they can get access to updates about events and competitions;

in addition, parents can chart their child's progress and can use the system to communicate with the school on various matters.

Get more from your school website

Your website should do more than just provide basic information. Of course, information and branding are important, but you can get so much more out of your site, improving both the teaching and learning experiences.

Start thinking about how you can change your website for the better today for the benefit of teachers, parents and students.